Indie Gems: Obvious Child

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Remain calm.

I'll admit, I was determined to like Obvious Child before I saw it. The story follows a stand up comedian, Donna (Jenny Slate) who gets dumped by her boyfriend and is about to lose her job all within the same week. She has a one night stand with a very nice guy, Max (Jake Lacy) but ends up pregnant. She knows very well that she is in no place to be a parent, so she decides to have an abortion.

People saw the word "abortion" and jumped on this movie like white on rice. "I can't believe they'd make a joke over killing babies!!" people cried. of course, all these people bitching never even saw the film. I knew there just had to be more, and thankfully there was.

Obvious Child doesn't handle this topic lightly, but it handles it realistically. It's Donna's choice, she has her reasons for doing it, and really, it's not the focal point of the film at all. Donna's relationship with Max and subsequently getting her shit together is. We see her bomb at stand up a few times for getting a little too real. A scene where she's in the recovery room with other patients feels important and heartbreaking at the same time.

This film definitely provokes a conversation, but beyond that it's a very good little film with Slate shining as the lead.

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "I can't tell anyone to shut the TV off..." - Donna (Jenny Slate)

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 24, 2014 at 9:40 AM

    BOOM! You nailed it! This movie is not about promoting abortion, it's about life and the choices we make and the reasons we make them, good and bad. This was much deeper than I initially thought it was going to be, and that says a lot coming from an unwavering pro-lifer ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 24, 2014 at 12:01 PM

      lol thank you! I knew you'd never judge it prematurely like some others did. It's so unfair, this movie is great.

      Delete
  2. s.October 24, 2014 at 2:18 PM

    I may actually see this one. It looked a bit like Girls brand of humor at first but I saw some stuff on tumblr from it and it already looks 100x funnier. And Slate was hilarious on Parks and Rec

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 24, 2014 at 4:45 PM

      Oh God no, I would never compare this to the crap that is Girls.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousOctober 24, 2014 at 3:53 PM

    This movie hit hard when she was in the hospital...such a powerful and realistic performance! Glad you liked it :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. m.brownOctober 24, 2014 at 9:20 PM

    I'm in for this once October is over. Less zombies...more people.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Candice FrederickOctober 24, 2014 at 10:55 PM

    indeed! i'm glad you liked this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Big Screen Small WordsOctober 24, 2014 at 11:58 PM

    Glad you liked this one! The film is fantastic! Great review.

    ReplyDelete
  7. JoshDecember 2, 2014 at 1:58 PM

    Yeah, naysayers should see the film first. I liked it, and Slate is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownDecember 26, 2014 at 1:18 AM

    It was refreshing to watch a very modern realistic film. Glad you liked it!

    ReplyDelete

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